The PYRAMIDS at GIZA – TOWERING above the WORLD.

The Pyramid of Giza Tour was a Dream Come True!

Growing up as a young boy in country Australia, visiting the Egyptian pyramids at Giza seemed merely a young mans pipe dream. A trip to Sydney from my home town seemed like an amazing trip and it was only an 8 hour drive. In my teens my mind was set on joining the RAAF. I had an uncle that had been in the RAAF and he was a great guide to my choices. I was accepted and sighed on the dotted line in April of 1980.

This decision would prove to be the making of this young man. It enabled a then 17 year old with a big desire to leave my small country town and explore the world. Now with 1/3 or more of my life spent living and working outside Australia it achieved the initial aim.

My First Passport.

The RAAF opened incredible opportunities for travel both in and out of the Air Force for me. In just a few short years I had completed both my basic training, as well as Technical training as an Armament fitter. Armament fitters are also known in the RAAF as gunnies or gun plumbers. My first posting was on General Dynamics F-111. It was an incredible experience but was not to give me a chance go overseas.

I was in my third year when I was posted to Malaysia on Mirage IIIO fighters. Butterworth Air Base near Penang was to be an adventure all on its own. It would introduce many cultures from Chinese, Indian and Malay. The stay would also give me the opportunity to travel to Thailand and Singapore.

My first overseas posting was to be an exciting three years. In those brief years set the path for the rest of my life. (This is a story for another post for sure).

Completing my posting with a great many experiences I returned home with a new wife from Thailand and a step daughter. The posting back to the Australia was to the Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at Edinburgh Air Base in Adelaide Australia.

It seems my postings from one aircraft to another were designed to give me multi aircraft experience just so I could be posted to ARDU. ARDU gave me the incredible opportunity to work on wide variety of aircraft, helicopters and weapons systems.

Opportunity Knocks.

Often doors open to opportunities at in opportune times and after ten years service it was time to look to the future. I saw an add in the paper with BAE systems looking for technician’s to work in Saudi Arabia on what was tax free incredible money. A decision had to be made that would again shape my future.

The time came to resigned from the RAAF in mid 1990 with a heavy heart. I loved my life in the military, the incredible people and technology available there.

There aren’t to many places where a 26 year old can be solely responsible to checking and launching a 24 million dollar jet fighter on his own. It’s a terrifying responsibility being sent in on a weekend on your own to launch such an amazing aircraft. I did it when required on weekends, I did it just fine.

Joining British Aerospace and moving to Saudi Arabia was the next exciting opportunity. The job was as a technical instructor guiding the Royal Saudi Airforce Technicians.

Saudi Teaching.

The position intended to make them self sufficient and being able to maintain their own military aircraft. This was incredibly frustrating job with language and cultural barriers that made the so very difficult.

It was not possible in my time to teach them to be competent before they got promoted into management positions still with little or no idea in my opinion. This was to be 13 years of incredible experiences, frustration, delight and fear! (Yes, ill leave this for another post too).

Holiday to Cyprus.

My wife and I were invited to go on holiday with some friends who we knew in Saudi. The UK/Thai family wanted to have some friends travel with them to Cyprus. We booked flights with little or no idea of what we would do other than drink, eat and be merry for two weeks.

On arrival we found Cyprus to be a mix of Western and Middle Eastern attitudes. It seemed neither modern in design or in the way people acted. Truly an East meets West experience for us.

We ended up in what was a run down dusty apartment that looked like it had not been used in ages. Dusty and certainly not what we expected. The apartment was run by a Cypriot Australian from Melbourne.

People we knew recommended the apartments. Certainly a rocky start to the trip. It was a good thing the booze was cheap and the food in the area was pretty good.

Boat Trip to Egypt.

In a week of partying we had had a great time. Regardless when options of what to do the next week came up, the option of a cruise to Egypt was mentioned. It was 110 pounds per person so it was a no brainer.

We could visit both the world famous Cairo Museum as well as the great pyramids of Giza. Great idea my wife and I thought. We obtained tickets and in a couple days set off in a taxi to the cruise ship terminal.

Cruise Ship Surprise.

This ship I’m sure is the same one we travelled on all those years back. The cruise ship was of a medium size, not capable of feeding all the passengers in one sitting. We were either early breakfast and dinner or in the late sitting.

Boarding the Alexandria we were met by pleasant staff that took our passports to get ready for our Egypt arrival. This was all done for us so we got our passports back on our return.

The inside cabin was dark as night, but I have to say I didn’t mind. It was central and likely not to roll as much if the weather picked up. My wife gets motion sickness easily so it did work out well. We headed up for passenger briefings and had a few drinks.

I was surprised by how tired the ship was. Its obviously done countless trips over many years and could do with an upgrade. Carpets were from the 1960s looking at their color and pattern. Fixtures like lights and furniture looked tired as well.

The Tour.

The whole cruise was overnight to Port Al Said at the top of Egypt. Then a full day in buses to view the sights and back on the ship for the return leg in the evening. It was very efficiently run trip and no time to spare.

In the evening we went to dinner in the early sitting. Entering the corridor to the dinning room located at the stern of the ship we were guided into the room, descending down a staircase to the floor level.

Guided to one of the large round tables we sat down. The table was covered in a large white table cloth. Greeted by a few Brits and other nationalities we had a pleasant meal with a few drinks. The conversation was excited with everyone looking forward to tomorrow’s tour.

The evening was taken up with some really great entertainment. There was something akin to a circus act with singing, music and acrobatics. It was a very enjoyable evening.

The Pyramid Tour Begins.

Rising early we had breakfast before being guided to the ships exit and out to the waiting 24 buses. There were two ships of people doing this trip so it was well organized.

The twenty four buses left in unison out of the Port. The first sign we should be concerned was the massive security presence accompanying the buses. There were armed military vehicles between every few buses.

The light trucks had plenty of weapons both personal and heavy machine guns. Departing the Port Al Said Duty free zone we headed south towards Cairo for some 5 hours.

The Desert & Suez Canal.

The desert welcomed us as we departed port Al Said. It was was starkly different to what I had expected to see. No vegetation to speak of and just a landscape created by wind flowing over the rippled sand. It was the same In any direction as far as the eye could see. The wind blew the fine sand across the road like smoke in the light hot breeze.

The crew showed us the history of the Pyramids on TV screens hanging from the ceiling of the bus being played on a VHS tape player. This proved to be informative as we passed the time travelling south towards Cairo.

T Shirt Sales Name in Egyptian.

The crew also had a desire to sell us T shirts while we were on the trip. A good captive audience for sure. They showed us T shirt designs we could choose, we could have our names written in Egyptian hieroglyphics on the shirts. Of course we bought one each which would be delivered later that day.

Taking our orders they assembled the list and were later to pass it off to sellers as we entered Cairo. The technique was for the sellers to jump onto the entry door while the bus went around round about. They would grab the orders from the bus staff and jump off to go organise the orders. The bus never stopped!

On our departure Cairo Museum the shirts were delivered to us. It was all very efficient. The shirts were decent quality and came with a translation card so you could see how your name was created.

Ships that Floating on the Desert.

The journey from Port Al Said took us along the Suez canal. We had been traveling for quote a while we my eye caught something on the left side of the buss coming toward us. The view from the bus looked as if we were in the middle of the desert. The Suez canal didn’t even enter my mind as something we would encounter.

Travelling down the road this enormous cargo ship seemed to be floating on the sand heading in the opposite direction. It was truly an amazing sight. I cannot imaging an aircraft carrier traversing this waterway so close to a road. This would certainly be an incredible sight.

Cairo Museum.

The Cairo Museum should definitely on your bucket list. The museum contains items that are up to about three thousand years old. You can experience so much of ancient Egypt with busts of famous people, statues all carved in stone, jewelry, perfume still in bottles over 2000 years old. There is an incredible variety even horse buggies and chariots.

There are mummies as well as items from kings burial rooms. It’s just mind blowing the age of items. There are gold covered horse carriages as if right from the old Ben Hur movie.

Tutankhamun possessions including his three sarcophagus are on view. These three sarcophagus that fitted one inside the other. Obviously the mask is something you want to see. It’s normally on display for all to see although you may need to pay extra to get into this particular display. It’s kilos of pure gold and just breath takingly beautiful.

Completing out visit to the Cairo Museum we all headed back to the buses and departed for the highlight, the Sphinx and the three Giza Pyramids.

Security in Egypt.

Just a note on security. The Museum has the security of an airport. In the past Islamic extremists have gotten into the museum to kill tourists. They have previously succeeded so understand the trip is not without some security concerns.

The buses have also have come under attack by Muslim Extremists in the past. There is a substantial effort by the authorities to keep you safe. In quick a search the last attack was 2019 so it’s an ongoing danger. It’s important to understand its very safe but not absolutely safe. If your in the Middle East you are always the focus of these people. Understand the risks and make your own decision regards traveling there.

The Pyramids Defy Description.

Departing Cairo we headed south for the thirty minute drive. The pyramids are about 20 kilometer away from Cairo. We had been in the bus for about 10 minutes getting out of Cairo which is a very busy city when shining in the distance the Great pyramid of Giza came into view.

We were likely still 10 kilometers from it. It was magnificent and incredibly high. The largest pyramid is approximately 135 meters tall which is about 30 plus stories high. Maybe this will help you understand its huge size!

Mouths agape at the spectacular view as we arrived at the Sphinx first. The Sphinx was being worked on but I personally thought it would be much bigger. It’s about two London buses in size I’d say. The head is big with its nose missing and a sandy yellowish tinge to it.

We could walk around it the we were guided into the temple right next to it. This was a labyrinth of room that were mostly empty. There were some states and carvings. The floor was super smooth as I remember. The group walked through the temple exiting the temple. Met with a moderate walk across the dusty open desert to view the three pyramids.

The grand pyramids at Giza was super impressive with the enormous blocks of stone that it was constructed with. The precision of their alignment with each other looks hard to replicate. It was possible to climb on some of the lower levels to get an appreciation of the incredible amount of work required to construct these colossal structures.

Camels & The pyramids at Giza.

There was an option to enter the pyramids at Giza but it was not recommended if your unsteady on your feet. It’s quite claustrophobic according to those who entered. We were told the floors were quite steep and slippery so we chose not to enter.

The Main pyramid was closed due to maintenance when we arrived. One of the smaller Pyramids was open to the public that day. There was a long line in and a second line of people emerging from the same entrance.

People said there wasn’t much to see other than a burial room. It was also very hot inside, quite claustrophobic with everyone going in and out at the same time. Your experience may be a lot better as it’s been quite a while since our visit.

There were also camel rides available at the pyramids at Giza. There are mixed stories about these as an attraction. There are stories the owners negotiate the price of a ride but they make it a one way trip. When you get to the end they want.to charge you again to return. Just ensure you negotiate a price that is a return trip.

Pyramids at Giza – The Return Trip.

The trip back to Cairo and Port Al Said was uneventful and filled with excitement from what we all had experienced. It is hard to describe the immense size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The other two are still substantial in size but don’t rival it as a spectacle.

If you choose to travel to Egypt I certainly would highly recommend a visit to both the Cairo Museum & Giza Pyramids. There is a good chance if your passing through Egypt on a flight you could take a trip if you have a long layover. I would recommend ticking off this incredible experience if you have the time.

Author.

Brendon McAliece is an expat Aussie living in Thailand with over 20 years working on military aircraft in Australia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.